The Doctor Calls
by kelly1981
Summary: When a strange blue box lands in Bon Temps, what would Sookie make of it?


Sookie unfolded the sun lounger, sat down, and prepared herself to do absolutely nothing. She had a day off, the washing machine was running, the house was clean and she was carefree for at least a couple of hours. Sookie hadn't had a chance like this, with no worries of who might show up, for who knows how long.

She put her sunglasses in place, and found her page in the book she had been reading.

She hadn't made it to the bottom of the page when a wind whipped itself up from no-where, accompanied by a strange melodic grating sound. Sookie covered her face with her arm and began moving to the front door. She was halted by the appearance of a strange blue box with the words 'police box' written above a door.

"Holy Hell in a hand basket!" Sookie said to herself. Suddenly the door of the box opened and a man came dashing out.

"Ah, You!" he said, "Who are you?"

"Sookie Stackhouse, who the hell are you?" She said, trying to be brave.

"Oh yes" he said looking around, "property inspector" he added, flashing a blank ID at her.

"There's no such thing as a property inspector and that ID is blank" Sookie argued.

"Oh! How did you know that? You shouldn't see that." he said, taking a step closer and looking at her curiously.

"Hold it right there." Sookie shouted, "Are you a fairy?" spying a trowel she'd left in the border.

"Some people think so, but I'm just eccentric" he smiled, "I'm the Doctor, pleased to meet you Sookie" He held his hand out to shake hers; she couldn't resist her manners and obliged.

"Why is there a blue box in my garden?" she asked.

"Not entirely sure about that, unless" he said, thoughtfully "is this third moon of Poosh?"

"Poosh?" Sookie asked.

"Yeah, lost for a while. I was just popping in to see how things were" the Doctor explained.

"No, this is Earth. Are you an Alien?" Sookie asked, stepping back a little.

"Technically, but that's not important. What is, is why I'm stood here on Earth, when I should be somewhere else?" the Doctor said. Sookie hoped he was asking himself.

"What I'd really like to know is how the blue box arrived" Sookie said, getting tired of having her afternoon off interrupted by this strange man.

"Oh, that's easy, must have got lost. not just a blue box, it's my Tardis." He said, quite matter-of-fact.

"I'm going to regret this, but what's a Tardis?" Sookie asked, sitting on the edge of her sun lounger and giving up on relaxing.

"Time and relative dimension in space"

"So it's a space ship?

"And a time machine" he added

"Oh" was all Sookie could manage.

The Doctor brought a small device out from his pocket, which started glowing and whistling. He began pacing back and forwards muttering to himself. Finally he stopped and looked at Sookie

"Ah ha! This is an alternate reality. Tell me, is there anything different? No, that's a stupid question, how would you know. Ah! This is unprecedented" he rambled, then dashed back inside his Tardis. He emerged a moment later with a different device, after hitting it a couple of times, it too began to whistle.

"What is that thing?" Sookie asked, becoming amused by this crazy man.

"This? It's a dimensional re-combobulator. See?" he said, showing her the screen on the front.

"What does it do?" she laughed,

"Well, it re-combobulates dimensions." He looked at her like she was a little simple.

"Of course" she sighed, rolling her eyes.

"Do you want to see inside my box?" the doctor asked, fiddling with his machine.

"Depends, what's in there?" Sookie asked, ignoring the 'double entendre'

"Well, a swimming pool, a library, engine room, games room…." He listed calmly.

"All in that little box?" she questioned.

"It's a special little box" He winked at her.

Sookie stood, walked to the door of the box and peered inside. To say it was cavernous would be an understatement. She took a step inside, it looked bigger than her entire house, and she could see other doors leading off the main room. She jumped outside and circled the box.

"It's bigger on the inside" she whispered.

"Is it?" the Doctor asked, and strode inside "you coming?"

"Coming where?"

"Wherever, it is a time and space machine" he laughed.

"Can we go back and see my Gran" Sookie asked, hoping she could arrive just before Rene, and stop him.

"Ah, no. That's the only rule, not allowed to cross our own time-lines"

"Not even to save someone's life?" Sookie asked, feeling her eyes moisten

"Especially not, did it before. Caused more trouble than if we'd never arrived. Trust me"

"What happened last time?"

"One of my recent companions, saved her Dad from dying, caused these monstrous Reapers to chase us around, until the deed was reversed. Which wasn't easy" He explained. He put his arm around her shoulders and gave her a quick squeeze.

"So, what could I show you?" he asked, running to a large console in the middle of the room. He pulled levers and pushed buttons, suddenly the room began to shake.

Sookie held on to the wall and tried to make her way towards the Doctor, who seemed to be steering using a ships wheel.

"Can you get me back before dark?" Sookie asked, finally making it to the handrail around the centre console.

"Yeah, no problem. Why before dark?" he asked, spinning the wheel wildly.

"My… Um, Friend is coming over" she stammered, how was she going to describe Eric to an Alien?

"Your friend, close to you are they? At night?" the Doctor asked, teasing her.

"Yes, but not like that. Well, yes like that, but he's not my boyfriend." Sookie said, sounding like she was trying to convince herself.

"So what is he?" the Doctor asked, mainly focussing on the screen attached to the console.

"A vampire"

"A what?" the Doctor said turning in shock, "but they don't exist, they were just fish in Venice, what do these ones do?"

"Boring politics, and kill each other. A lot." Sookie sighed

"Huh, sounds a bit like the Judoon, or the Sontarans." He said, losing himself in his machines again. "Hang on, do they fart a lot?"

"Fart? No, they are dead, they don't fart." She laughed.

"Good, at least you haven't got damn Slitheen running around." He pulled a few more levers and the box stopped shaking. "Right, let's see where we are" The Doctor ran to the doors and flung them wide open; Sookie looked past him and saw the vastness of space.

"Where are we?" asked Sookie.

"Just outside aurora 5" he replied confidently. "I wanted to show you something beautiful after all the horror in your life, lets go and land." He closed the doors and ran back to the console, he pushed a single button and the room shook briefly. "Go on, open the door"

She opened the door; beyond it she saw a small village. The Doctor placed his hand on her shoulder. "Shall we have a look around, since we're here?"

They stepped out of the door and walked towards the village. Sookie could see children playing and people working, it all looked a bit medieval.

"Ok, you've told me where we are, but when are we?" she asked, confused.

"This is the year 23 apple 46, one of the last colonies of human existence."

"The year what?" she asked, more confused.

"After Earth colonies split, and after they began to lose track of Earth years, they came upon a new numbering system. Anyway, were about 4 billion years in your future."

His explanation left her a little shocked, and rooted to the spot.

"4 billion" she whispered to herself. "So where's the Earth?"

"It's around, but there aren't many people there now, well, about 12 billion. Half of them left to join these colonies" He returned to where she stood.

Sookie stood and stared at him, this was all so amazing. It made her strange little life in Bon Temps seem very sedate and insignificant.

"Why did you bring me here?" she asked, still in a whisper.

"To show you something amazing." He took hold of her arm and pulled her through the village. They walked up to a large wooden building at the centre of the village and in through the open doors. The building was set up a little like a church, seating down each side facing one end and a lectern for reading at the front.

"So religion still exists" Sookie said as they walked round the walls.

"Sort of, they don't worship any one Holy icon. They worship important people from the past. People who made a difference."

They walked round one wall until the Doctor stopped them in front of a painting.

"This is a very important lady" the Doctor said, "can you see who she is?"

Sookie looked at the painting; it seemed to be of a large gathering of people and animals, stood in front of a house that looked like hers. "No idea, but I like her house"

"It's you Sookie. My dimensional re-combobulator gave me a run down of your history when I scanned you. It says you not only solve the alienation between the many supernatural creatures, but manage to help them integrate into society fully" he explained.

Sookie sat down hard on a chair, staring at the painting.

"You could say you're a saint to them" he said, trying to comfort her.

"That woman, she looks so happy and old" she said, trying to wrap her head around this.

"Let me show you" he said, taking her hand. The Doctor then proceeded to point out Jason and his family, Tara and her family, Sam and his large and somewhat mixed family. Finally he pointed to Sookie. She stood proudly in the middle of this menagerie, holding hands with a large blonde man and with several beautiful children at her feet.

"Are those?" she began, unbelieving.

"Yours? Yes, I can't tell you how, spoilers. But you will be a very happy person. Loved for your kindness and understanding."

"Wow" she whispered.

"Now let's go meet the locals, they are always so much fun." He pulled her by the hand and dragged her out of the building. They walked around the village talking to random passers by. Sookie really enjoyed talking to all the different people, and learning about their lives. They got some food from a street vendor and sat on a patch of grass to watch the villagers.

"It's so amazing, all this time and humans manage to survive." She said, tucking into something that resembled a ham and egg sandwich, aside from the colours being wrong.

"Humans are amazing creatures; they survive a lot longer than this."

"Certainly puts things in perspective a little" she continued.

"It often does"

They finished their lunch and had a walk down one of the paths that led away from the village. After a short while, they found themselves at the coast. They walked along the sand and the Doctor told Sookie about some of the things he had seen.

"So you think Jack really is the face of Bo?" Sookie asked after one particularly incredible story.

"He said it, doesn't mean it's the same guy, but remember he couldn't die" the Doctor explained, still slightly confused about it himself.

"You have seen so many wonderful things, why do you keep travelling?"

"Why do you stand still?" he asked back at her.

"What do you mean?"

"You have this talent, which helps people and makes money. Also you have this 'friend' (he emphasized by wiggling his fingers) who adores you, but you continue on with your life like nothing at all has changed." He stopped walking to stand and look at her.

"I like my life the way it is" she said, knowing immediately she was lying.

"Really?" the Doctor asked, calling her on her guilty face.

"No, but everything else just seems too weird." She said, beginning to giggle.

"You say that, here, of all places." He laughed. "Maybe you just need to take a step back, look at the big picture"

They walked a while longer and then began to loop around, heading back to the Tardis.

On arriving back in the village, Sookie decided she wanted to take something home with her to remind her of the adventure, but realised she didn't have any money to pay for a trinket. The Doctor saw her dilemma, and decided to show her a little parlour trick he picked up a few centuries ago. He picked her a few of the beautiful wild flowers, and took them back to the Tardis. He opened a drawer on his console and lay the flowers gently down. After closing the drawer, pulling a lever and hitting the console in a very special way, he reopened the drawer. Sookie was presented with a framed picture of the local sunset, with two of its three suns setting. At the bottom of the picture were the flowers, pressed into the picture, but still looking somehow 3D.

"It's beautiful, thank you" Sookie held it carefully.

"Glad to be of help, now lets head back to yours and I should be on my way" he said, returning to the console, "Hold on tight" he smiled.

Sookie braced herself against the railing and watched the Doctor 'fly' his spaceship back to her house. They landed and Sookie opened the door, stepping outside she smelled the familiar scent of the blooming flowers in her garden.

"Are you sure this is the same day?" she asked, remembering one of his stories were he missed by 12 years.

The Doctor tapped his watch, and then nodded.

"Can I get you a drink, or something to eat?" she asked, not really wanting this strange man to leave.

"Got any custard?" he asked, smiling.

Sookie made them both some ice tea as the Doctor got a spare sun lounger out of the shed. She couldn't help laughing when she came outside at the vision of him fully clothed lying on a sun lounger. Then she realised, she had gone on this amazing adventure in sunbathing clothes and flip-flops. "Oh hell" she muttered to herself, nothing she could do about it now.

"I think I'd like to meet your 'friend' if I may" the doctor said, wiggling his fingers to emphasize the word friend.

"I'm not sure you'd feel the same after you met him" Sookie giggled

"So I'll bet he's pacing round his crypt waiting for the sun to fall, is he?" the Doctor asked,

"He sleeps in a bed"

"He sleeps? Why? He's dead" the Doctor asked, confused.

"It's not so much sleeping, as dying for the day. It's almost impossible to wake them" she explained, remembering the hotel explosion incident.

"Do you think he'd let me scan him?"

"You can ask, but I don't now what he'll say"

It wasn't long until the sun began to set and they both moved inside. Almost as soon as the sun had dropped, there was a knock at the front door. Sookie jumped up to answer it. On the other side of the door stood a very confused looking vampire.

"Why did you knock?" Sookie asked,

"I felt so many strange things through our bond as I slept, is everything ok?" He peered in to the room and saw the Doctor. "Have you replaced me already?"

"No, silly, this is the Doctor, he wanted to meet you"

"Doctor who?"

"Oh Eric, he took me on an adventure in his space ship and showed me amazing things, just try to be nice, ok?"

Eric walked up to the Doctor and looked him over. The Doctor stood and stuck out his hand in greeting. Eric just looked at him.

"Hello, I'm the Doctor, pleased to meet you. Are you really a vampire?" the Doctor asked excitedly.

"Are you sure about this guy?" Eric asked, turning to Sookie. She simply nodded and smiled.

"Yes, I am a vampire, a very powerful 1000 year old vampire. What are you?" Eric asked, almost being polite.

"Oh? I'm a time lord; can I see your fangs?"

Eric gladly showed the Doctor his fangs, enjoying watching him recoil slightly. Just then, a noise began emitting from the Doctor, and he pulled one of his small devices from his pocket.

"Ah! Seems the dimensional re-combobulator has finished cooking, and I have a wedding to get to." He exclaimed, moving towards the back door. "It's been a delight meeting you two, I'll be sure to drop in if I ever end up in this dimension again."

"You be sure to" Sookie said, following him out of the back door and down to the Tardis.

"Don't hurry on our account" Eric added, earning himself an elbow in the ribs from Sookie.

"You remember to be strong Sookie Stackhouse; there is a lot of work left to do. Just remember how wonderful the future is" The Doctor smiled as he stepped inside the Tardis.

"I'll do my best" Sookie replied,

"That's all we ask" said the doctor, then waved and closed the door.

The melodic grinding sound began, and the wind whirled around them, and they watched the Doctor and his Tardis disappear.

"So where have you been to my lover?" Eric asked; glad to finally be alone with Sookie

"I'll show you" she said taking his hand, and pulling him back inside the house.

She gave him the picture to look at, and explained what the Doctor had shown her, leaving out the hero worship and painting part. Eric didn't need any further encouragement.

"This photo is a little strange" Eric said, seemingly lost in thought.

"Strange how?" Sookie looked at the photo over his arm.

"It looks a lot like the village I grew up in, except for the two suns"

"There were three, but it was a beautiful place. I wished you could have seen it."

"Oh Sookie, I did, in my dreams while you lived it." Eric said, then pulled her into his arms for a heart stopping kiss.


End file.
